B E T T O R L O G I C / SPONSORED EDITORIAL
because betting isn’t really suited to a solitary
activity. Most people like to discuss their bets
and share their highs and lows. Pre-internet this
used to go on in a betting shop and now we
have an opportunity to do it better by allowing
people to communicate with specific people
who have similar betting habits.
Our core offering at the moment is providing
the reasons for someone to have a bet. The
majority of users are looking for a reason to
have a bet and we are simply providing the
information that will allow them to make an
informed decision, particularly when it comes to
in-play betting.
To compound this, as we define that reason
to have a bet even more closely then our
offering will become even more effective.
eGR: Mobile has continued to expand rapidly
this year in the egaming industry. Why do you
think mobile has become so popular and how
are you embracing this customer demand?
AD: Mobile has become popular for two
reasons. Firstly, is its use as a second screen. For
example, Bwin has developed a mobile app and
all it does is display our in-play product called
Livelogic. It’s a very simple device that allows
you to select your preferred league and it will
give you the live bet prompts with associated
markets. It is meant as a second screen that
allows you to track events and gives you a
reason to have a bet.
Secondly, mobile is very suited to allowing
players to set up their own alerts to tell them
when specific match situations occur. Our
mobile app which is in beta testing at the
moment does just that. For example, it will let a
customer know if there is a possibility of a late
goal in a football match.
Mobile is predominately used as a second
screen and sportsbooks are just now starting
to tailor their offerings to this actual device as
opposed to simply copying what they do online
and sticking it on a mobile, which can lead to a
very frustrating experience for users.
eGR: What are the challenges to bringing all
the features that desktop offerings can have
to the mobile platform, such as allowing easy
communication between players?
AD: The main challenge is to know what your
user actually does and what they want to do,
which can be learned from the transactional
data. After all, a sportsbook has far more data
on their customers than any other industry.
The fact that I have had 20-30 transactions
with a sportsbook per week is telling them far
more about me than anything that could be
learned by my other online transactions with
Amazon for instance. Therefore, with a mobile
W W W. E G R M A G A Z I N E . C O M
application, as long as it is suitable dexterous
there is no reason why it can’t give you a much
more immersive experience.
At the very least it should know what bets
I have placed and inform me of the status
of those bets very easily and also provide
supporting information that may help me make
further decisions with options like ‘cash out’,
which is becoming increasingly popular.
eGR: Looking forward into 2015, how are you
looking to develop your existing offering
and what new features are you planning to
introduce?
AD: Mobile will obviously be one of the major
areas we are looking to develop. However,
something we are very keen to avoid is thinking
too narrowly about what our customers are
looking for. Although mobile betting is very
popular in the UK, we also have to consider our
customers in emerging markets, such as Africa,
where this simply isn’t the case and online is still
the predominant driver for betting. In Africa, for
instance, mobile betting isn’t a feasible option
MOBILE IS PREDOMINATELY USED AS A SECOND SCREEN
AND SPORTSBOOKS ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO TAILOR
THEIR OFFERINGS TO THIS ACTUAL DEVICE AS OPPOSED TO
SIMPLY COPYING WHAT THEY DO ONLINE AND STICKING IT
ON A MOBILE, WHICH CAN LEAD TO A VERY FRUSTRATING
EXPERIENCE FOR USERS
t ANDREW DAGNALL
tBETTORLOGIC
because of the cost of data. The challenge for
us is knowing what works in different territories.
Major brands have gone into Africa and failed
because they simply don’t understand the
customers there. For example, the African
bettor’s main activity is stake small and win big,
so easy to understand multiples are popular. We
have to understand bettors and know what will
prompt them to bet while also educating them
and giving operators a chance to lower their
customer churn rate. The education of bettors
is an important feature because it allows them
to mitigate their loses, which is vital for the
industry because if players always lose they will
simply give up and stop betting.
Another aim for us is getting a wider
acceptable from sportsbooks of the real
value of analysing customer betting history
and implementing what that is telling you.
Ultimately, we are heading towards making
the betting experience a completely
personalised one.
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